Twelve teams came to do battle at the 2012 Amsterdam Fives, two remained – El A Dees and CEPL. It was England versus Holland for the ultimate prize.

We were treated to a game that was worthy of a final which was full of goals, entertainment and watched by a supportive crowd who thoroughly enjoyed it. The best thing about the final was that as the two teams took to the field it was a 50/50 guess on who would come out on top. The two teams had met earlier in the day and drew 1-1 so that gave us no clues other than the two teams were well matched.

El A Dees were looking in fine form and moving through the gears with just 1 defeat in their 6 games and their last two wins were 6-2 and 3-0. They also boasted the most lethal striker in the tournament in the form of Oliver Wood with 11 goals in 6 games thus far and you wouldn't bet against him adding to that tally here.

CEPL also had just the 1 defeat in 6 games but would be full of confidence entering the Final having just taken the prize scalp of Athletico Do Hollande. If they could recreate that performance then El A Dees would have their work cut out.

It was CEPL who dealt the first blow when Krzysztof Szwagrzyk put his team 1-0 up. CEPL had certainly started the brighter and with the opening goal had the wind in their sails. They looked more likely to add to their lead as the first half continued and none more so when they were through on goal, one-on-one with the goalkeeper until James Staz came from nowhere to scythe down the CEPL forward just outside the penalty area. The referee gave the free kick and Staz was hugely lucky not to see red for a professional foul (not a dangerous tackle but certainly denying a goalscoring opportunity). Staz stayed on the pitch, El A Dees defended the free kick and the score remained at 1-0.

To rub salt in the wounds, not long after that incident, Oliver Wood found himself unmarked at the back post to make it 1-1. It was El A Dees first real chance after early CEPL domination and CEPL could certainly feel aggrieved. In no time at all it was 2-1 as El A Dees were sparked into life and it was Gaz Lawrence who scored it. CEPL would wonder how they were behind but El A Dees were back in form and playing good football. Half-time, 2-1.

With the second half barely underway we had parity again at 2-2 as Szwagrzyk scored his second of the game and we had a really exciting Cup Final on our hands. Goals were coming in bursts in this game and CEPL were not level for long as Oliver Wood made it 3-2 – it was Woods second of the game and there were goals a plenty in this Final.

The match was end to end and the 6 th goal went the way of CEPL (Adrian Tezyk) to make it 3-3. Time was running out and just as there was talk of extra time and penalties CEPL took the lead for the first time since early on as Ariel Golinas put his team 4-3 up. Before El A Dees had chance to respond it was 5-3 as Golinas put the icing on the cake and surely that was the winner. It was. Final score 5-3 in a breathtaking game of football.

The winners of the 2012 Amsterdam Fives – CEPL.

There was some personal consolation for El A Dees as their comrade Oliver Wood emerged to win the top goalscorer prize with a fantastic return of 13 goals in 7 games. A great achievement and a well deserved trophy to you.

Our congratulations also to Wilhelmus in the Plate competition. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our teams who participated in what was a great day's competition. It was a pleasure to host you all and great to share a few beers at our post-tournament drinks in the evening. We hope your head's on Sunday morning were not as heavy as ours!

We hope to see you all again at a tournament very soon.